The setting for this vision takes place during the return to Jerusalem of a remnant of Jews during the time of the exile. Israel had lost their most precious possession, the Promised Land, due to their constant unfaithfulness evidenced through idol worship during the years of the divided kingdom. During the return under Zerubbabel as recorded in Nehemiah, there was a spark of hope of a restored nation. They had a leader from the house of David and a high priest, Joshua, who is pictured in this vision. Satan’s accusations against Joshua have to do with his being unfit to serve according to the Mosaic Law. He was unclean; as were all the people, from their life in Babylon/Persia where they were not able to practice Temple worship. The filthy garments picture this uncleanness, and yet God restores Joshua and evidences His redemption grace in providing new clean garments and defying Satan and his accusations. Once again God offers Israel the opportunity to walk in His ways and keep the Law based on a heart relationship of faith and true repentance.
God also once again reminds them of the ultimate Messianic promise of restoration, which is based on His unconditional promises to Abraham and David. Even though we know as the story unfolds that Israel did not receive the restored kingdom, the foretaste of it is provided during the restoration of Ezra/Nehemiah, to which Joshua the High Priest is a part of. God’ grace in redemption ultimately is dependent on His will and choice, not on that of humanity. If it were dependent on humanity, then there would be no redemption. As we will see in this Workshop, Israel as a nation was not faithful in keeping their side of the Mosaic Covenant, and therefore was severely punished after several opportunities to repent. We will discover the root causes of their disobedience and also the history of their unfaithfulness.
Yet, God is faithful and as we come to the end of the Old Testament story we are given this reminder in Zechariah and Malachi of restoration and hope because of God’s faithfulness to His promises. We are reminded of this consistent theme of God’s faithfulness by the Apostle Paul as he writes in 2 Timothy 2:13, “if we are faithless, he will remain faithful, for he cannot disown himself.” This follows Paul’s admonition, “if we disown him, he will also disown us.” How do we reconcile these two thoughts? The Old Testament story may help as we see God’s parental relationship with Israel in punishment and in faithfulness to His promises that were unconditional.
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